Women deserve to be part of the IT crowd

This column in written by Ujima Radio presenter Cheryl Morgan

Last week, on October 14, the world celebrated Ada Lovelace Day. Ada was the daughter of Lord Byron. She was a friend and collaborator of Charles Babbage, the Victorian inventor who tried to build mechanical computing machines. It was a valiant, if doomed, attempt to usher in the digital age. 

While Charles concentrated on hardware, Ada worked on the software. She is generally credited with having been the world’s first computer programmer.

We celebrate Ada Lovelace Day because the role of women in IT history is easily forgotten. Computers are supposed to be the domain of nerdy boys. I’ve been programming for over 30 years, but I rarely offer advice on the subject. The popular view is that you’d no more go to a woman for help with a computer than you would a woman for advice on cars, or a man for advice on child care.

It wasn’t always thus. Women have played a significant role in the history of computing. Grace Hopper, an admiral in the US Navy, first taught computers to understand human-like language. She invented the compiler, a tool that can convert the programming languages we are familiar with today into instructions more easily understood by machines. She also invented the Cobol programming language.

In the early days of computing, women were heavily involved. The job did, after all, involve typing, which surely was women’s work. However, as the career grew in prominence and prestige, women programmers were gradually replaced by men. In the US, the proportion of women in computer science courses dropped from 37 per cent in 1985 to 18 per cent in 2011.

There is no obvious reason why women shouldn’t work in IT. In most cases it doesn’t actually require much maths, and anyway the idea that women can’t do maths is a myth. Ada’s mum believed in educating girls, and not just her daughter. She bought the Red Lodge in Bristol and set up a girl’s school there.

However, when an industry becomes male-dominated, it is hard for women to survive in it. I’m reminded of a cartoon in which a group of businessmen tell their sole woman colleague: “You are the only person who thinks this organization is sexist.”

The answer, it appears, is networking, and mutual support. For some time Bristol has been home to Girl Geek Dinners, events that bring young women in all STEM industries together for mutual support. This week sees the arrival of Women Who Code, a new group originating in San Francisco and dedicated to inspiring women to excel in technology careers.

Bristol will be their third UK city group, behind London, inevitably, and Belfast, the home of UK founder, Sheree Atcheson. That sounds like a thumbs up for our city’s IT industry. Their first meeting will be at the Engine Shed on Thursday night.

Here’s hoping that they do well. Given the importance of IT in modern life, women can’t afford to be left behind.

Cheryl Morgan is a co-presenter of the Women’s Outlook Show on Ujima Radio (98 FM, Wednesday, 12-2pm)